Time
by Aergia
Summary: Based off the ending of the Ocarina of Time, Link starts to develop feelings for The princess Zelda and his best childhood friend Saria. Stuck in a love triangle, who will Link choose?
1. Chapter 1

This story has been written along with my friend Monica, and we'd appreciate if you guys gave us some advice and your opinions. Thank you!  
>-<p>

Up the vines, through the gate house, up the path, to the flowers.

Link thoughts rushed as he walked up the main path to Hyrule Castle. He tried to remember what he'd done seven years ago to steal into the castle, although it felt like not too long ago. In fact it was weeks ago, time travel sure discombobulates you.

He went to the edge of the cliff and tugged on the leafy light green vines, felt firm.

Hoisting himself up, he climbed over the tall ledge. He took a breather and looked over at the scenery, the stone walls of Castle, the beautiful moat, and the helmeted guards…. Link gave a long sigh, he was glad to see the castle back to its true form. The last time he saw it… well.

He shook his head and refused to think about it.

He jumped from above and stuck his landing in the gate house.

An image of Zelda materialized in his head. He saw the two faces in his mind, the older and younger. His stomach felt queasy, like he was going to throw up. What would he say to her when they met? What? There's no way she'd believe him, no way in hell.

As he thought he made his way stealthily out the gate house and ran lightly across the field, navigating his way through the flowers toward the cobbled cliff.

Do I mention the Ocarina? He questioned himself as he caught his leather boot on a loose stone and slipped. He steadied himself and crawled up the wall. The moat lay in front of him, he looked to his right to make sure the guards guarding the moat weren't looking in his direction, not that they were possible of doing.

Swim through the moat and toward the crates, jump and crawl.

Again, Link was reminiscing through his memories.

As he performed the task flawlessly as last time, he came inside the crawl space, wet and flustered. Zelda's faces kept popping into his mind's eye, but mostly the face she made the last time he saw her. The look in her eyes….

He shook his thoughts away, trying to stay focused on the guards patrolling.

Making his way past hedges and fountains he wasn't used to his boyish body yet. He was slower, and what was frustrating, couldn't use his heavy equipment. Link did with what he could and stayed with the task.

After making his way past the last guard making his rounds around the statues and nearly getting caught, he had made it to the destination.

The courtyard was filled of flowers and beautiful aromas; the circular area of the garden was also bordered by clear crystal water. He began to walk slower, his worn boots crunching the grass. She was there, and she faced the window. And he knew as well as she knew who was behind it. A wave of déjà vu hit him hard. As he walked softly he tugged at his green clothes and adjusted his belt, feeling the slingshot and deku nuts concealed within.

He was reaching the marble steps trying to process what he was going to say in his head. Link cleared his throat gently.

Zelda turned her head slowly and caught his eye, her whole body then followed suit as she emitted a sharp gasp from her lips.

"Who?" she put a hand over her mouth, eyes wide, mouth agape. "Who are you? How did you get past the guards?"

Her eyes focused on his clothes, "your clothing...! Then are you… are you from the forest?" With this piece of information she began to calm down and gave a slight natural smile.

He couldn't speak, and even if he tried, nothing would come out of his mouth. All Link could do was nod. Her smile made him feel as though he was in a safe place, where no evil can enter. He adjusted his hat and looked deep into her beautiful crystal blue eyes,

"I came here to tell you…" He started.

She looked confused, but deep down she knew it wasn't going to be good, "What is it?"

"I came here to tell you not to trust Ganondorf and that you sent me back through time with your family's ocarina for that reason. And the sense of why I am telling you this, is so that Hyrule won't go through chaos again!"

Zelda remained fixated on Link and this time, she was the one that was Silentious.

"...I believe you."

Yet, something seemed off to Link. "You don't remember, do you?"

Zelda made a quizzical face and stared blankly at him,

"I am Link," saying this as he pointed to his chest. As if showing her would bring back her memory.

"That name seems oddly familiar to me, I seem to have memories of the name Link but, it is still quite confusing." She let out a little laugh and it proceeded to make Link smile to himself.

Link quickly came back to reality, his smile faded which made Zelda stop giggling. "What's wrong?"

"I realized that I have to be somewhere."

"I see, you will return won't you Link?" She smiled, hoping for a "yes of course, I'll try!"

Link knew that even though he wanted to stay alongside Zelda, he had to leave, for Saria was waiting for him in the Lost forest. He gave one last look in her blue eyes, and in silence turned around and once again retraced his steps. With his heavy heart, Link preceded to leave the presence of Zelda.

Link made his way towards Kokiri village, which made him reminisce about the "past" and how everything started, Navi, Saria, and the Deku tree. He made his way across the wooden bridge and came upon the village, his village. He could see young ones playing, others working and a few talking. Link taking in everything, strode towards the entrance that led towards the lost woods,

As soon as he reached the entrance, he found Saria waiting there, "Where have you been Link? I've been waiting for quite a while!"

"I'm sorry, Saria."

"It's alright Link." She let out a big smile and went to go hug him. "I have something for you!" She grabbed his hand and they both made their way towards her house, the day was bright and relaxing. Link, was too busy to grasp onto everything for he was too busy thinking of Zelda. Link blushed at the thought of her giggling.

"Okay, wait here!" She skipped towards the entrance leaving Link dumbfounded while Mido watched in the distance.

Link stood there for a good five minutes, when suddenly, Mido appeared before his very eyes, getting very close to Link's face "stay away from her! I'm warning you!" And with that Mido walked away leaving Link standing there very awkwardly.

Soon after, Saria came out with a box and handed it over to Link, "go ahead, open it!" He hesitated at first but, he opened it nonetheless. Inside was a necklace with a Piece of Heart made out of wood.


	2. Chapter 2

He stared into the depths of the box, eyes fixed on the pendant. "Well Saria I don't know what to say…."

"C'mon try it on!" She bubbled.

She took the wooden pendant and tied the rough yarn that held it around Link's neck. "See? It looks great on you," she smiled.

Link looked down at his chest as the wooden heart laid next to his own, just a tunic and flesh separated it. He put his hand gently on top of it; it felt smooth like it was sanded with great care. As he looked closer at it he saw the carving was very intricate, there were small crevices on where the knife cut leaving artistic designs. Saria was great at her trade, and comparing it with other works he could tell she spent a lot of time on this.

After studying it he looked up at her and gave a warm smile. At his response her face lit up, but Link sensed something. Something different about her mannerisms, she seemed… nervous. He gave her a questioning look.

"Saria?"

She took a step closer to him. "You know Link; I've been thinking…" she paused. "I've been thinking, no, what I mean to say is… I think I really like you. More than what we are now…."

Link's face grew hot. He didn't understand, and a part of him didn't want to. "Why now?" he sputtered, heart beating faster.

"You had been gone for a few weeks and it made me realize how much I missed you… I missed your presence, your conversations. Whenever you called me on the ocarina I made you, it made me ecstatic with joy! Hearing your voice was the highlight of my days," she explained herself slowly in a low voice.

Link's stomach twisted itself into a painful knot, he never thought of Saria as a significant other. She was always just his best friend, and being something more… wouldn't it jeopardize the acquired status? And plus they were totally different races put together, did she know he was a Hylian?

Time stopped; for once it was going nowhere. Stagnant, forgotten, for once it wasn't reverting or embarking. He tried to picture themselves as a couple, but what was strange is he could actually see them as one.

Zelda's face suddenly popped in his mind.

Closing his eyes tight, he felt dizzy. "I'm sorry Saria, I need to think, and I do like you too but…" his voice trailed off.

Saria looked at him, trying to see through his thoughts. "Yes… that's fine. It's understandable," her voice finally emitted. She made a hurt face and tried to hide it, Link could tell.

"I _am_ sorry," he expressed deeply. "It's just-"

"While you think I'm going to go the lost woods," she interrupted him, flashing a fake smile. With this last sentence she left him walking away slowly, then speeding up to a quick jog not looking back

Link nodded, "right" he said to no one but himself.

No destination in mind his feet took him to his house, he needed to lie down. He climbed up the ladder while letting out a sigh; he made it to the deck and about to walk into his own tree house when he heard a voice:

"Girl issues?"

Link looked around and found the owner; "is that you Fado?" he called.

She stood on the cliff and let out a forced laugh, "the one and only! Hee hee. Need some advice on girls?"

"No thanks," said Link a bit annoyed, his eyebrows knitted.

"Suit yourself! Heh heh," she said as he pulled the curtain which revealed the entrance to his home. He walked in and made a beeline to his bed and threw his body heavily down on it. Before he realized it he had fell asleep.

Link found himself in a black room. He suddenly felt claustrophobic; making it hard for him to breathe. At the far end of the room, a door appeared whilst moving like a reflection in the water.

Without thinking, Link made his way towards the door and entered. He could see Saria sitting on a humongous tree stump, which resembled the one from the sacred forest meadow. He could see that she was playing a song with her ocarina, one he didn't recognized. It was eerie and beautiful all at once, it scared him.

The bleakness of the song pierced Link's heart with a feeling of great sadness. He tried to reach out to her but, it was as though an invisible barrier was separating Link from Saria. His felt as if it his hand hit cold glass, he pulled it back and saw an imprint of it, it looked bigger, masculine.

"Saria!" Link called out, but Saria payed no heed to him. It was as though he wasn't even there.

The room suddenly shifted and Saria disappeared into the darkness. This time, he could spot Navi flying in circles near a forest. Link smiled and started to run towards her. With every step, Navi got further and further away from him.

"Come back, Navi! Don't go!" It was useless; Navi just flew into the forest towards a male figure, a Sheikah eye was emblazed across the chest and his face was covered. Navi flew past him, her fairy dust sparkled as it trailed after her. The Sheikah just stared as link, he ripped off his cover revealing long blonde hair and Zelda's face. "Thank you for saving my fate," she said as she turned around and jumped upward into the canopy, leaving Link stranded by himself. Everything seemed confusing to Link,

_Why is this happening to me?_

In the distance he heard someone laughing and with a sign of hope, Link made his way towards the commotion.

The atmosphere thinned, he saw a much older version of Zelda along with an older version of himself. They were both standing in the central courtyard located in Hyrule castle. He could see that they were both talking, but the audio could not be processed.

"I just want to understand!" he cried. And with that, everything went black and vanished.

Link woke up with a gasp in his bed and saw that it was all just a dream. He got up, took his green hat and made his way out the door.


End file.
